5. Choices:
The House Budget;
Impending Deficit Reduction Cuts
Deborah Weinstein
April 2, 2012
6. • Cut the food stamp program by
$134b over 10 years
• Impose cuts on 1.5 million low-
OR
income school kids ($1.13b/yr)
• Reduce or end services for 540,000 Enact the Buffett
special education students ($986m/ rule
yr)
($171b over 10 yrs)
• Deprive 75,000 children of Head
Start ($621m/yr)
• Reduce or eliminate work-study for &
713,000 college students ($76m/yr) $8b left over for
• Reduce or eliminate grants for 1.3m deficit reduction
college students ($57m/yr)
7. Eliminate OR
Medicaid Close the “carried
interest” loophole so
coverage for hedge fund managers pay
434,000 people same income tax rate as
($21 b over 10 years) everyone else
($21b over 10 years)
8. Allocate $75 OR
million to buy 3
Trident nuclear Provide job training for
missiles nearly 100,000
dislocated workers
9. Things to know about the Ryan Budget
Medicaid cut 34%
by 2022 ($2.4T
counting Medicaid
& ACA)
SNAP cut $134b
Other mandatory
by $1.9T
Domestic/
Internat’l approps
down $291b more
10. On the other hand…
Military spending rises By 2050, Medicaid, CHIP cut
5% above deal set last 75%; most other programs
summer; would rise except Social Security,
Medicare, defense would
from 57% of all approps
disappear.
to 61% over 10 years.
There are $10 “My goal is to cut
government in half in
trillion in tax 25 years, to get it
down to the size
cuts!!! where we can drown
it in the bathtub.”
--Grover Norquist
11. Make Believe
• $5.4 trillion from • What tax breaks would
keeping the Bush tax be cut?
cuts over next 10 years.
• $4.6 trillion from NEW
tax cuts that mostly
help the rich.
• New cuts supposed to
be offset by reducing
other tax expenditures.
12. Automatic cuts (aka Sequestration)
FY 2013 (starting Jan. 2013):
10 years of deeper cuts: •Automatic across-the-board,
•$110 million a year: 8 – 9%
Non-defense: $38b from
•$55b Defense appropriations; rest from
•$55b Not Defense Medicare (limited) and other
non-exempt mandatory
Many, but not all, low-income
mandatory programs are
exempt from these cuts FY2014 and beyond:
Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, SSI, Pell •Caps lowered by same
Grants, UI, some child care, most amounts, but appropriators
child welfare…
choose how to make cuts
13. Who would be hurt?
• 734,000 households: no LIHEAP
• 1.5 million low-income children: reduced K-12
education aid
• 550,000 poor adults, 20,000 youth don’t get job
training
• 75,000 children don’t get Head Start
• 25,000 children don’t get child care
• 17,000 seniors: no Meals on Wheels
• 12,000 patients: no HIV/AIDS drugs
14. How much less than in FY 2010?
• Adult job training: 22.5 – 23.5 percent
• Adult basic education: 19.5 – 20.5 percent
• IDEA education: 12.8 – 14.0%
• LIHEAP grants to states: 33.3 – 34.2 percent
• Public housing capital fund: 35 – 35.9 percent
• WIC: 20.9 – 22.0 percent
• Substance abuse treatment: 29.9 – 30.8 percent
• Maternal and Child Health: 16.4 – 17.5 percent
15. Please check out CHN’s
new report at
www.chn.org
For more information,
don’t be a stranger:
Contact Debbie Weinstein
dweinstein@chn.org
19. Programs We Care About are Affordable
SNAP is Projected to Shrink as
Percent of Economy
19 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
20. Programs We Care About are Affordable
Public Health Coverage is
Better at Cost Control
20 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
21. Spending is Focused on Elderly,
Disabled, & Workers
90% of Entitlement Benefits
Goes to These Households
21 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
22. Spending is Focused on Elderly,
Disabled, & Workers
Middle Income Households
Receive Proportionate Share
22 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
23. Spending is Focused on Elderly,
Disabled, & Workers
Tax Expenditures are Highly
Regressive
23 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
24. Spending is Focused on Elderly,
Disabled, & Workers
Tax Expenditures are
Substantial
Wednesday, March 23, 2012 24
25. Strong Safety Net Programs Work
Overwhelmingly, Program
Dollars Go to Beneficiaries
*Federal administration costs as a percent of total federal and state expenditures for Medicaid, SNAP, and housing
vouchers are just 0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.3%, respectively.
25 Wednesday, March 23, 2012 25
26. Strong Safety Net Programs Work
Safety Net Dramatically
Reduces Poverty
26 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
27. Strong Safety Net Programs Work
TANF No Longer Effective at
Reducing Deep Poverty
27 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
28. Our Narrative
Conclusion
28 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
29. Our Narrative
Resources & Contact Info
• Policy Basics Indivar Dutta-Gupta
www.cbpp.org/policybasics
Policy Advisor
• Timely analysis on budget debates Federal Fiscal Policy
Blog: www.offthechartsblog.org
Center on Budget and Policy
Twitter: @CenteronBudget Priorities
• Analysis of state budget and tax
820 First Street NE, Suite 510
debates Washington, DC 20002
wwww.statefiscal.org 202-325-8788
www.cbpp.org
dutta-gupta@cbpp.org
29 Wednesday, March 23, 2012
31. Speak Out for a Moral Budget:
The “Ask”
Maintain current funding levels for domestic anti-poverty programs.
Preserve the current structure of low-income mandatory programs like SNAP
(formerly Food Stamps), the EITC, and Medicaid.
Replace the scheduled $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts with a balanced deficit
reduction package that includes revenues and protects funding for anti-poverty
and anti-hunger programs.
32. Take Action: Speak Out for a Moral Budget
Tell your senators and representative what
you think.
Engage in the debate through traditional
and new media.
Raise awareness in your community.
33. Speak Out for a Moral Budget:
Tell your senators and representative what you think.
Visit your members of Congress.
Tips: Call ahead to schedule
Bring materials to leave behind
Make it personal
Follow up
Attend a town hall.
Tips: Arrive early
Sit by the microphone
Come with your questions written down
Refuse to take a non-answer for an answer
Make a phone call.
Tips: Call the US Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224 3121 and ask to be connected to your
legislator’s office.
Give your name and address to make clear you’re a constituent
Make a clear statement of your position including an “ask”
Ask for the staffer who handles the federal budget
Follow up
Send an email.
Tips: Visit look www.senate.gov or www.house.gov to find the correct email address
Clearly state your purpose at the beginning of your letter
Include personal examples
Address only one issue per letter
34. Speak Out for a Moral Budget:
Engage in the debate through traditional and new media.
Write an Op-Ed.
Tips: Focus on one issue
Support with facts
Include a personal story
Avoid jargon
Make it timely
Write a letter to the editor.
Tips: Read the letters section regularly
Respond quickly
Be brief
Follow the rules
Send copies to decision-makers
Start a conversation on Facebook.
Tips: “Like” your member of Congress
Post interesting articles on your wall
Share information on Twitter.
Tips: Follow budget-related tags: #faithfulbudget; #save4all; etc.
Follow allied people/organizations on Fridays: #FF @bread4theWorld
@CoalitiononHN @NCJW
Tag members of Congress in tweets. You can find a list of members on Tweet Congress:
http://tweetcongress.org/
35. Speak Out for a Moral Budget:
Raise awareness in your community.
Plan an Event.
Tips: Be creative
Find a hook
Alert the media
Include an action
Engage your friends and family in conversation—and action!
Tips: Share your story
Listen
Be prepared with ideas for action: encourage friends and family to join you in calling
members of Congress
36. Thank you for all your faithful work!
If you have further questions about today’s webinar,
contact John Hill – jhill@umc-gbcs.org
